Abashiri City

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Abashiri City, on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk in eastern Hokkaido, is famous throughout Japan for its spectacular drift ice (ryuhyo). From late January through March, massive ice floes drift in from Siberia, creating an otherworldly frozen seascape. The drift ice sightseeing icebreaker Aurora offers an unforgettable experience of navigating through the ice. The Abashiri Prison Museum, a preserved historical facility from the Meiji era, chronicles the pioneering history of Hokkaido and is well-known as a film location. At the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum, visitors can actually touch real drift ice and learn about this unique natural phenomenon.

Favorite

【公式】網走流氷観光砕氷船おーろら

Aurora Drift Ice Sightseeing Ship

Abashiri City

Address: 4-Chome Minami 3-jo Higashi, Abashiri, Hokkaido 093-0012 Japan
Website: https://www.abakanko.jp/
Operator: Abashiri City Tourism Association

Nearby Spots

Hokkaido

Koshimizu Town

Koshimizu Town, in the Shari district of the Okhotsk region, midway between the Shiretoko Peninsula and Abashiri, is home to Hokkaido's most celebrated wildflower coastline — 'Koshimizu Primeval Flower Park'. This extraordinary 8-kilometre strip of natural dunes between the Okhotsk Sea and Ramsar-listed 'Lake Tofutsu' bursts into bloom from late April through September, with around 200 species of wildflowers peaking mid-June to late July. The town's flower (Ezo Day Lily, deep orange), alongside Ezo Lily (yellow) and Rosa rugosa (pink), carpet the dune face in layers of colour against the backdrop of Mt. Sharidake and the deep-blue Okhotsk Sea. A...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Hokkaido

Kitami City

Kitami City, in the Okhotsk region of eastern Hokkaido, is a proudly distinctive agricultural city — Japan's leading producer of both peppermint (hakkа) and onions. At its peak, Kitami peppermint once held a 70% share of the world market, earning the city the title 'capital of mint.' The Kitami Mint Museum traces this extraordinary history. Today, Kitami onions are Japan's top-yielding, and the autumn harvest season blankets vast fields in golden-yellow bulbs. Kitami is also 'Japan's curling city' — having sent athletes to three consecutive Winter Olympics (Turin 2006, PyeongChang 2018, and Beijing 2022). The city's fierce yakiniku (Japanese barbecue)...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Food
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Hokkaido

Kiyosato Town

Kiyosato Town, in the Shari district of the Okhotsk region of Hokkaido, is an agricultural and nature town nestled at the foot of Mt. Sharidake at the base of the Shiretoko Peninsula. The most celebrated attraction is 'Sakura Falls' — a modest 2.5-metre waterfall on the upper Shari River where, every year from June to August, cherry salmon (sakuramasu) perform their extraordinary spawning migration leaps. Visitors watch in genuine awe as fish attempt the waterfall again and again, exhausted but relentless — a deeply moving display of natural instinct. Free to visit and celebrated nationally on TV news, Sakura Falls...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Hokkaido

Lake Mashu

The mystical Lake Mashu is a world-renowned caldera lake within Akan-Mashu National Park. Once a record-holder for the world's clearest water, its deep indigo surface, often wrapped in ethereal mist, has earned it the nickname 'Misty Lake Mashu' — and local legend holds that those who see it too clearly from the viewing platform will find bad luck in love. The lake's appearance shifts with the seasons and time of day, and visitors may witness the mystical moment when its clear blue waters are suddenly veiled in white mist. Surrounding peaks such as Mt. Mashu and Kamuinupuri preserve a vivid...

Hokkaido
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Back to Hokkaido